Marcus Trescothick faces a disciplinary tribunal as ECB steps up its crackdown on players' bad behaviour

Marcus Trescothick could become the second county captain to be banned when he
faces a disciplinary tribunal next week as the England and Wales Cricket
Board steps up its crackdown on player behaviour.

Under pressure: Marcus Trescothick and James Foster have to account for the behaviour of their players at Somerset and Essex respectivelyPhoto: GETTY IMAGES

By Nick Hoult and Paul Bolton

9:14PM BST 07 Jul 2011

Trescothick faces the same charges of failing to control the discipline of his team for which James Foster, the Essex captain, received a two-match ban.

The ECB’s disciplinary department is experiencing its equivalent of the high-street Christmas rush as the heavy number of matches in June and July, combined with the pressures of Twenty20, bring a seasonal increase in the players up in front of the beak.

on Friday a three-man panel will rule on Murray Goodwin, the Sussex batsman who faces a suspension under the “totting up” procedure of disciplinary points.

At Arundel last week, Goodwin is alleged to have questioned his lbw dismissal and smashed the ball to the boundary as he walked off. Gerard Elias QC, the chairman of the ECB’s disciplinary commission, was in the crowd at the time.

In the spring Elias emailed counties with a clear warning he would crack down this season. He wrote: “Our umpires are better trained than ever. They, too, are rightly dedicated to the cause of ensuring the spirit of our game survives whatever stresses that money and competition place in the way.

“Dissent by cricketers rose a notch last season and I would ask that you take steps to ensure that respect for decisions taken by our umpires is reinforced. The commission is determined that we shall not permit standards to slip in this area and we shall look carefully at the issue in mid-season.”

It appears his words have gone unheeded with 14 offences already dealt with by the ECB this season, not including Goodwin, Somerset and Essex cases.

The umpires have a better understanding of how to report players to the board and this, combined with extra pressure on teams to win, is believed to have contributed to the increase.

With £500,000 on offer for winning the County Championship and the Twenty20 Cup a ticket to the multi-millions dollar Champions League, players can see winning equates to real money. They are also under more pressure than ever before to keep their jobs. The financial crisis in county cricket has shrunk squads, while older players are aware that counties want to cash in on payments from the ECB for fielding cricketers under the age of 26.

“I would not say that there has been a deterioration in player behaviour but with Twenty20 there is so much at stake,” said Tim Robinson, the vice-chairman of the First-Class Umpires Association.

“The game has become more competitive, there is more money involved and the financial rewards for being successful are significant so there is the potential for the odd flare-up and for things to boil over. It’s important that players control themselves and that the captains control their players.”

There are four levels of offences rising in severity from time-wasting and excessive appealing (level one) to intimidating an umpire, racism and violence (level four).

Players receive three points per offence and if they tot up nine penalty points in two years they face a suspension.

Trescothick is in the dock because five Somerset players have received disciplinary points in 12 months. Trescothick, Somerset coach Andy Hurry, chairman Andy Nash and chief executive, Guy Lavender, will defend the charge next week. They will be hoping to avoid the two-match ban and £5,000 fine Foster and Essex received earlier this week. There is little doubt the ECB made an example of Essex, whose failure to show enough contrition did not help their defence.

Captains are suspended because their ability to manage the anger levels of their players is a key part of the job. “If you have players that get a bit of red mist when things aren’t going for them you might need to take them off for a couple of overs to calm down,” said Alex Gidman, captain of Gloucestershire. “Ultimately it’s down to the captain and coach to remind the players of the standards expected of them and the club policy.”

At the moment the ECB has no plans to copy the Football Association’s Respect campaign, devised to improve behaviour towards referees, as they believe the number of players being punished proves the policing system is working.

But the fear for the ECB is that what happens at professional level seeps down into the club and junior system. With that in mind, only last week the ECB and MCC launched an initiative aimed at stamping out poor behaviour in junior cricket. Children involved in under-15s cricket will be given a quiz on cricket based on cricketing scenarios and sportsmanship with a prize of tickets to a Test match.

“There is no place for bad behaviour in cricket and this initiative is designed to help teach the next generation of players about the importance of showing respect to your opponents, match officials, coaches, scorers and spectators,” said Paul Bedford, the ECB’s head of non-first class cricket.

Perhaps the issue runs deeper as Dougie Brown, Warwickshire second XI coach, suggests: “If standards have slipped a little maybe it’s because modern society in general is a little less respectful of authority than it was.”